Low protein in Innova Lite

[aquarius]

Hi,

I feed my cat Innova cat food, and he needs to switch to a lite food so that he doesn't gain any more weight (not obese yet, but slightly overweight).

Initially, I wanted to switch him to the Innova Lite, but I noticed it has significantly lower protein levels - in fact, it is one of the lowest protein levels I have ever seen in a non-prescription cat food. So I called Natura and talked to a representative who esentially gave me the run-around and never answered my question:

Why would they significantly lower protein levels in a lite food? --I have never known any other cat food to do this - in fact, many are starting to do just the opposite - up the protein, lower the fat.

I am a bit concerned about this - do any of you have any thoughts on feeding a low protein diet to an overweight cat?

Thanks in advance.

 

[nern]

I would'nt be too concerned about it because the protein is really not as low as it appears. Here is an example of what I mean -
Innova Adult has 36% protein or a minimum of approx. 8.7 grams of protein per 100 Calories.
Innova Lite has 26.3% protein or a minimum of approx. 8.1 grams of protein per 100 Calories.

For a 12lb. inactive cat 1/2 (269 kcal) cup of Innova Adult is recommened which would provide about 23 grams of protein.
For a 12lb. inactive cat 3/4 (249 kcal) cup of Innova Lite is recommended which would provide about 20 grams of protein.
The difference in minimum protein between the two (as fed) is only about 3 grams of protein even though there appears to be a much larger differnce when you look at the percentages on the label.

I hope this eases your mind

If not, you might be interested in using the regular adult Innova but following the guidelines on the back of the bag for weight loss or giving California Natural a try which is higher in protein (than Innova Lite) but lower in calories (than Innova adult).

 

[aquarius]

Nern -
That's interesting - I hadn't thought to examine the label that way. Thanks for the info!

Unfortunately, I don't really have the option of feeding him much less of the regular Innova - He doesn't eat that much of it to begin with! He only eats about 1/4 c per meal, and he weighs 14 pounds and climbing.

He is just not very active, and does not have the best metabolism. Perhaps I will try the light, then, and see how that goes.

Thanks again.

 

[baileysidney11]

Can you get your cat to play in order to burn off calories? This may help his weight problem also.

 

[aquarius]

Boy, I wish. He does get into playful moods, but he has really become lazy in his adulthood. I bought him a laser pointer (which he likes for a few minutes), a round doughnut-shaped toy with a ball in it which he plays with occasionally, and numerous little balls and mice and fishing pole type toys.

Catnip gets him kind of giddy, but again, the results are short-lived.

I am going to see if he gains any more weight after he finishes the bag and a half he has left of the regular innova cat, and assess from there.

Thanks